Category Archives for DIY

I could have gone to the beach or somewhere far from the city for the two long weekends that came last month, but I was just lazy to plan anything. I probably spent more time complaining about not being able to go on vacation vs. planning or going on one.

I decided to stop being so whiny at times when I can really tell myself to shut up and just keep myself busy. Like maybe dig into my plastic bin of projects and go on a tv marathon (hello, Revenge). So I did both and finally got around to making this pearl collar:

Yes, I’m not over collars yet. They are so pretty and they might as well be the equivalent of wearing a tie to make things more “office-friendly”.

I’ve been meaning to finish this lil baby for a long time now, but I was just really lazy. And somewhere along the way, I realized that the first one I made had an odd shape and lost interest when I had to re-do everything. Since I haven’t found the kind of pearl collar that I like, I might as well continue, right? Glad I did!

Another craft project I had in mind was to make something out of a crate I got from a gift packaging last year. I couldn’t decide whether I should make it into a closet drawer or something until I saw this:

The mattress was originally propped up higher than the crate, but my brother said that Funny likes to lean towards stuff when she sleeps, so I removed some of the cushions and did not take out one of the sides.

Here’s an example of leaning against “stuff”:

Teehee!

And speaking of getting stuff done–guess who ate her words when she said she won’t be reading A Song of Ice and Fire until the HBO series is over?!

I can’t help it! 🙂

I had so many questions after watching season 2, so I decided to pick up the books. I said I would only read the corresponding book after each season, but after Clash of the Kings, I just can’t stay away! 🙂 As you can see, my cat and I have the same reactions when it comes to Jon Snow/Daenerys chapters. Haha.

You know November’s gonna be awesome despite the retrograde when you’ve got two long weekends making way for it!

It’s the second half of the year and I just need to revisit my list of to-dos (okay, resolutions–but there is a semblance of urgency in “to-do”) and I just want to say–I’ve done a pretty swell job so far, except for visiting a new destination. Which is okay, because I’ve got six months to do that!

I’ve been in all sorts of moods lately, and most of the time it’s that kind of mood where you can’t really pin down if you’re just anxious, sad, bratty, or just in need of a LOT of chocolate. Or an exaggeration of everything. Haha. I would normally go out and buy something random, but I’ve been forcing myself not to buy anything unnecessary (my trick is that I always think that it’s going to that “go somewhere new” fund, which works like 70% of the time..hahaha) and wear LOTS of color.

I made a cuff out of old necklace beads, a piece of fabric, and some velcro.

And I’m still obsessed with cute collars. I found an old pair of plastic earrings I bought in Bangkok a couple of years ago. I pinned them on my collar tips and they turned out pretty cute!

I also gave in to reading A Game of Thrones since I was getting so much spoilers from friends who read the book. I wanted to not know what was going to happen in the series but I just wanted to know the back stories so I wouldn’t confuse the characters further or think that Ned Stark’s real name is Neddard. Sorry.

Since I can’t have a direwolf in real life, I am calling Funny my direcat (I know, the puns are getting painful!) and made her a scarf out of scrap fabric, just so I can Instagram it and caption it “Winter is coming!” 😐

I was on a tight budget last month, and I had to bust out some gold shoes to complete my bridesmaid outfit for Klassy’s wedding. I had a pair of gold flats that I can’t seem to find, and I had already spent most of my money on accommodations so I decided to be more resourceful and DIY it.

I started with a pair of white heels I barely use. For some reason, I can’t pull off white shoes and decided not to buy any white shoes after this. The material was stretchy fabric and plastic–workable for spray paint! I found a can of gold at home and went to work.

I suck at reading labels. I realized that the paint was matte after I sprayed the first coat–but that’s okay. The white base made it easier for the gold to come out. It took me about 4 layers to get the color I wanted–just make sure to let the paint dry every time you add a layer!

Realizing that it might look dull instead of sparkly, I busted out the gold sequins and some Elmer’s Glue. Mod Podge would’ve been better, but we don’t have it here!

It took me a couple of hours to finish both heels! The photo below tells you that I forgot to paint some parts–hopefully ones that aren’t noticeable from afar

Turned out well, according to my standards. Haha. Check out our color palette. We were afraid we’d look a bit elfish but we put our faith in Klassy (who, by the way, works for one of my favorite sites, Refinery29!) and I think we looked Kate Spade-ish. LOVE.

Oh, being the best bridesmaids in the world, we made a fansign:

You can see our feet at the 0:12 mark in Klassy and Eric’s same-day wedding video made by Jason Magbanua.

Before my best friend got married last month, she invited the bridesmaids (yay!) and some of their close friends to help her make props she wanted for her wedding. The invite said to make ourselves free on Saturday afternoon, bring whatever art materials we had lying around the house (with specific instructions not to buy anything!), and our drinking pants.

VMB and I arrived to this:

A DIY/Crafter’s wasteland! We had our computers and iPhones ready to broadcast how awesome we are. Our friend, Sanya, brought over her old Sweet Valley and Babysitters Club books! The 90s fangirls in us started screaming and reading out loud chapters from the books!

We originally planned to cut out the covers and make buntings or coasters out of them. Or maybe something like this, haha

We didn’t have a lot covers, so we tore out the pages and made these awesome flaglets for the guests to have photo-ops with:

And then the very fab very metal boyfriend started making other props for the photobooth:

And a championship belt! Our geeky boyfriends rejoiced, I tell ya.

Of course, being Hanson fans (well, I’ll say former on my end! LOL), we couldn’t resist making these:

Last but not the least, we made this David Lynch-inspired bunting, at the special request of the bride 🙂

Klassy and Eric used this for the post-wedding photo shoot and brought it back to hang in their home in SF 🙂

My best friend is the awesome bride (no “zilla” here!) who came up with everything! What can I say, she made me feel like a really useful bridesmaid, haha. This party was an awesome excuse to get the guests to mingle before the wedding and be all excited for the big day!

Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie EVER. I can sing Belle (Little Town) in my sleep. All the lines. And when my Very Metal Boyfriend said he wanted to go as Gaston for Halloween, I got really excited and started doing research for my own DIY Belle costume.

I thought it would be as simple as finding a blue dress with a full skirt, a white apron, and a white shirt. The last two were easy to find, but the blue dress seemed a bit of a challenge. I didn’t have time to go thrifting for something to deconstruct, so I went to Fabric Warehouse and bought 2 yards of the perfect “Belle” blue.

Here’s the nooby part: when I got home and laid my fabric on the table, I realized that 2 yards would only yield me one full circle skirt after watching countless tutorials–so I decided to wing it and make a half circle skirt (thanks to this tutorial) and piece together the leftover fabric to make a tank top that I can fit in (the fabric was not stretchy!).

Since I also didn’t have any zippers, garters, velcro, or buttons (I am redefining “winging it”), I had to improvise on how the skirt would hold up. I attached the cut fabric on my old white peasant skirt by sewing it to the band of the skirt and just letting the rest hang there (yes, no hemming…so lazy!). For the top, I cut out a tube shape, adjusted it to my size and added straps. Tucked it in my skirt, made a quick apron by sewing a rectangle with a long strip of fabric, and I have my last-minute-I-really-winged-it costume!

Finally finished one of them. Enough ranting about nothing to wear, because it’s really my fault . This one was inspired by a post from a DIY tumblr entry which I failed to bookmark, so I had to make it from memory. All I remember was a grey tee, black chiffon, and a black satin ribbon—all of the things I already had in my closet but never really used!

Eep. I suck at ironing so forgive the awful photo.

I made this under an hour. I guess having the chiffon hemmed (I got it from another top and used it as it is) cuts the process time by half. All i did was cut through the middle part of the shirt’s back, sewed on the chiffon (you can do this by hand or sewing machine), and hand-stitched the ribbon on the top part and there you go!

I made the back longer because I wanted to get that “draped” effect. And I had to cut a bit higher in the front because of the hole. When I tried the tank on, it felt weird and really loose–I cut the armholes to big and the neckline was off, so I decided to tie the back. I cut three strips from the leftover material and made a braid out of it:

I cut off the edges and sewed it together so it would be flat. I gathered the straps from the back, measured a not-so-awkward angle for the gather, then coiled the braid around it. I sewed the coil into the straps to keep it in place. Since I had more free time and lots of sequins–I added some along the neckline, thinking it would look less trashy.